Merely watching a game isn’t normally the ideal way to achieve the best first impression, but a lot of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s charm comes from being a spectator. It seems that Bethesda has gone all out in the visual department with their latest project and it is certainly garnering much attention. The queue at this year’s Eurogamer Expo was consistently lengthy, despite the vast number of booths to get a go on one of this holiday season’s hottest properties. Luckily, before too long, it was my turn with the successor to one of the best RPG titles around, so with a my expectations reigned in as best I could, I sat down, placed my hands over the trusty keyboard and mouse and got started.

The first thing on the agenda was to created a new character, however, I hastily stopped. The reason – to admire the new character models. Nords actually resemble Vikings this time around, while the reptilian Arconians don’t look like extras from the Mos Eisley Cantina scene. The detail in the weapons and the armour has also significantly improved. It was important to press on, so with my characters created I left the sanctuary and entered Skyrim for the first time, only to be greeted with a view to die for. Mountains surround the landscape of valleys and forests and rivers. It is this view that gave me a scale of just how big this game could be.

It isn’t just the visuals that impress either, it sounds just as good with the general grunts and growls sounding a lot more dynamic, whilst the speech of the NPCs fit seamlessly, rather than having them stare at you constantly. Performance has improved too, with the scenery, despite its large size, seemingly running effortlessly without stuttering or loading at any point. With ease I could switch into a third person perspective, which has improved over the old engine as well – although that’s hardly surprising. Granted it still looks a bit unusual but it’s a significant improvement for anyone who wants to treat this as a third person RPG – the Philistines!

“I left the sanctuary and entered Skyrim for the first time, only to be greeted with a view to die for.”

Pausing was even a treat as I was greeted with perhaps the most user-friendly Bethesda menu in history. Each section was mapped to a single direction, rather than the clumsy Oblivion system of scrolling through everything. You can even look to the stars and see your experience tables more clearly than before too. One big change is to do with equipping magic. Spells now take hand slots, so rather than one spell being equipped at any given time, you can have two! The downside is that weapons and shields also take the same slots, but it makes things more tactical.

Gameplay is largely the same as in Oblivion, but there are refinements aplenty. Combat feels more fluid and the shield does a better job of defending you in battle. The build available was very much a playground to enjoy with little incentive to follow a particular path as there didn’t seem to be any quests. As a result, I resorted to a bit of hunting, followed by beating cultists and prisoners alike.

There are still perhaps one or two elements remaining from the Oblivion era. Animals have a rather interesting trait of really liking water. So imagine my confusion when an Elk suddenly high-tailed it for the river and walked underwater. It decided to make its new home underwater, so I’m guessing it either evolved gills or it was a rather amusing oversight. That aside, Skyrim is shaping up to be a game to watch for those not bothered by online multiplayer shooters and playing through it a little today has turned me into a giddy wreck.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will launch on November 11 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.